Posts Tagged ‘Regeneration’

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

This text has often been used by both Arminians and Calvinists as a proof text for our positions. The Arminian sees the receiving in verse 12 whereas the Calvinists sees the being born of God in verse 13. Both are correct of course. As an Arminian, I believe that both verses fit together in God’s perfect plan for salvation. The honor of being adopted as a child of God comes not by the flesh. This is a key point of true Christianity. Christians are not Christians because we belong to Christian parents or come from a Christian home. We are not Christians because we belong to the Christian religion or to a Christian church. We are not Christians because we make moral decisions to follow Jesus Christ and His teachings. We may not even be a Christian simply because we have been baptized as a Christian. Salvation, the glorious work of regeneration by the Spirit of God, happens by the work of God’s grace. The new birth is the greatest miracle in our lives.

Matthew Henry writes about verse 12:

The true Christian’s description and property; and that is, that he receives Christ, and believes on his name; the latter explains the former. Note, First, To be a Christian indeed is to believe on Christ’s name; it is to assent to the gospel discovery, and consent to the gospel proposal, concerning him. His name is the Word of God; the King of kings, the Lord our righteousness; Jesus a Saviour. Now to believe on his name is to acknowledge that he is what these great names bespeak him to be, and to acquiesce in it, that he may be so to us. Secondly, Believing in Christ’s name is receiving him as a gift from God. We must receive his doctrine as true and good; receive his law as just and holy; receive his offers as kind and advantageous; and we must receive the image of his grace, and impressions of his love, as the governing principle of our affections and actions.

The true Christian is the one who receives Christ, who trusts in Christ alone to save them by His grace from their sins. This is not about works. This salvation is not based on what I do to obtain that salvation. This salvation is wrought by God’s grace through the preaching of His gospel through His Word (1 Peter 1:23). The disciple of Jesus humbly accepts the Word which is able to make us wise unto salvation (2 Timothy 3:15) and is able to save us (James 1:21).

In verse 13 the Evangelist writes that this salvation comes to us by God. Many Calvinists see in verse 13 the working of God’s sovereignty in salvation. They see this verse as denying free will as John adds that this salvation from verse 12 comes “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

What is John the Beloved teaching us in verse 13? Is he teaching us that free will is not involved in salvation? Is he teaching that regeneration is the divine act of God alone and that God must first regenerate a person in order for them to believe and become a child of God? Many presuppose this to be the teaching.

I see verse 13 as teaching that this salvation, this regeneration is not based on:

Race (not of blood)

Flesh (not of the will of flesh)

Another Disposed to do so on our behalf (nor of the will of man)

God alone! (but of God)

Let make briefly deal with all four. First, John says that our race (in this case the Jews from verse 11) could not save us. The Jews believed that their race made them children of God by virtue of Abraham (John 8:31-47). Paul dealt with the same issue in Romans 9. The Jews claimed to be the elect of God by virtue of their blood. John is saying that salvation and being adopted as a child of God has nothing to do with blood. Praise God for this truth!

Secondly, corrupt flesh cannot save itself. Because of our sins, we cannot save ourselves. The soul that sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:4). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). When we sin and rebel against God in our flesh, our flesh cannot save us. We cannot will our flesh to salvation. We cannot will our flesh to do what is just and right. Our righteous deeds in our flesh are but filthy garments before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6). Corrupt flesh only wants to please itself and never the Lord (Romans 3:10-18). We need the aid of the Spirit of God to be saved. We need the Holy Spirit to convict us and to show us our sins (John 16:8). We need the Spirit to open our eyes to the truth of the gospel. The Holy Spirit does all this when the gospel is preached though He does not make us believe. This act of belief is ours that we do by His aid (John 1:12).

Thirdly, one cannot will another to salvation. I desire that my children be saved but I cannot earn them salvation nor can I will them to salvation. I pray for their salvation and I pray for their repentance but I cannot make them believe nor can I will them to heaven. This is an act of God. The saying is true that God has no grandchildren. God only has children (v. 12). Thus while Yahweh is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Salvation comes for each person who is saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9) and this salvation is not because a parent or another willed it so but because God willed that whosoever comes to Him through Christ Jesus will be saved (John 3:14-17). Thus Jews could not will Gentiles nor forbid them. Salvation comes through Christ alone and He grants salvation to whosoever comes to Him (Romans 10:9-13). All can come and be saved but only those who do repent are saved (1 Timothy 4:10).

Lastly, the miracle of regeneration comes through God. God saves sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). The cross testifies to God’s willingness to save sinners (Romans 3:23-25). Romans 5:8 tells that God demonstrates His own love toward us. God doesn’t just say that He loves us but He has proven His love through the cross. This salvation is the work of God. God sent His Son to redeem fallen humanity (Galatians 4:4-7). Being born again is not the work then of our bloodline nor of our corrupt flesh seeking to earn salvation by our works nor is it willed to us by another disciple but our salvation is through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who loved us and died for us (Galatians 1:4). Regeneration is the divine grace of God at work in us who believe.

I think both Arminians and Calvinists need to rethink our positions on the issue of the gospel as the power of God unto salvation. Here is what I mean. Both Arminians and Calvinists assert that because of sin, mankind is unable to hear the gospel and be saved. Calvinists teach that mankind must first be regenerated by the Spirit of God to come to salvation. Arminians deny this but still teach prevenient grace as the work of the Spirit to bring sinners to salvation which in essence frees their will to believe the gospel. Both sides teach that mankind is totally depraved to the point that even if we preach the gospel to lost sinners, they are incapable of responding to the gospel apart from this other work of the Spirit either in effectual calling or in prevenient grace.

However, how can it be that the gospel given to us by the Spirit is incapable of drawing sinners? What if part of the work of salvation is the preaching of the gospel to lost sinners? After all, Jesus makes much about the preaching of the gospel (Mark 1:15-16; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). Notice that in Acts 1:8 the Holy Spirit would empower the disciples to preach the gospel yet is the gospel still not able to save? What if the work of the Spirit is drawing (John 6:44) but He does so through the preaching of the gospel (Romans 10:14-17)?

Paul the Apostle wrote in Romans 1:16-17:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Notice several things. First, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The same Greek word used in Acts 1:8 is used here. The Spirit of God brings the power of God into our lives but the gospel is also the power of God unto salvation. I ask again, if the gospel not able then to save? Could it be that the Holy Spirit works through the gospel that is preached and He also works on the hearts of those who hear the gospel so that they can respond and be saved?

Secondly, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. I think this is where Calvinists get this part wrong. They teach that a person must be regenerated to be saved. Even the great Charles Spurgeon saw the folly in this:

“If I am to preach the faith in Christ to a man who is regenerated, then the man, being regenerated, is saved already, and it is an unnecessary and ridiculous thing for me to preach Christ to him, and bid him to believe in order to be saved when he is saved already, being regenerate. Am I only to preach faith to those who have it? Absurd, indeed! Is not this waiting till the man is cured and then bringing him the medicine? This is preaching Christ to the righteous and not to sinners.” [Sermon entitled The Warrant of Faith].

The difficulty lies in trying to prove that a person is regenerated before faith. To do this, the Calvinists must take their doctrine to the Scriptures and presuppose this upon the text. Because of time, I will only say that the biblical case for the Calvinist doctrine of regeneration before faith is weak.

As an Arminian, I believe that mankind is depraved (Ephesians 2:1-3) but I believe that the Spirit works through the preaching of the gospel to draw sinners to the Savior. He also works on the human will to draw sinners to salvation through the preaching of the gospel that He inspired through holy men of God (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). The Holy Spirit does both! He works through the gospel to draw sinners to salvation but He doesn’t stop there. As the gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit works on the person to prepare them and draw them to salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Can I prove this from Scripture? Lets look at two examples both used by Arminians and Calvinists: the salvation of Lydia (Acts 16:11-15) and then the example of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:30-34.

The Salvation of Lydia (Acts 16:11-15).

Notice the text. Lydia hears the gospel from Paul and believes (Acts 16:14). The Holy Spirit opened Lydia’s heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. She hears the Word, repents, and is baptized just as Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19) and Peter preached (Acts 2:38).

We must not gloss over the truths here that the Holy Spirit did both the opening of her heart and He used the Word of God to bring salvation. This is the biblical pattern (Ephesians 1:13).

2. The Salvation of the Philippian Jailer (Acts 16:30-34).

The pattern here is clear: the jailer asks what must he do to be saved. Does Paul say “There is nothing you can do to be saved. If God wants to save you, He will save you for His glory!” No! Paul preaches that he must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and he would be saved. Paul preaches to him the gospel (v. 32), the jailer demonstrates his repentance and is baptized (v. 33). Again, the gospel is preached here. While the text says nothing of the ministry of the Spirit as in Lydia above, no doubt He is at work doing just what Jesus said He would do by exalting the Savior (John 15:26). As A.W. Tower proclaimed: “We need not cry out for God to pour His Spirit for He already has beginning at Pentecost but now we simply exalt Jesus Christ and we have the assurance that this is the work of the Holy Ghost.”

What is clear is the preaching of the gospel.

Conclusion

Calvinists believe in the preaching of the gospel. I don’t want to undermine that truth. I know of many good Calvinists who are out on the streets preaching the gospel to the lost and calling people to repentance. I appreciate them doing this very much and I admire them greatly. I do think they are not consistent with their theology and I know they feel the same toward me. I rejoice that Jesus is preached (Philippians 1:18).

In Galatians 3:2 Paul wrote this:

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Notice that Paul makes the receiving of the Spirit conditioned upon hearing the gospel. The term “hearing with faith” can only mean that as we see in the context from Galatians 3:1. We preach Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23) and we exalt Jesus as the One who saves from sin (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). When we preach Christ, the Holy Spirit is at work. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit takes the gospel preached and He woos sinners to salvation. The work of regeneration is the Holy Spirit’s work (Titus 3:5). Being “born again” is being born from above (John 3:3). When a sinner humbles themselves, the Lord brings the forgiveness of their sins and they are born from above by God’s grace.

Now both Arminians and Calvinists acknowledge the necessity of the new birth. Both acknowledge the necessity even of preaching the gospel to the lost. The difference lies in whether depraved sinners can hear the gospel and be saved. Calvinists deny this. Arminians affirm this but only with a view of prevenient grace wherein the Spirit works on those whom God has foreknown will believe. I am more comfortable preaching that the work of the Spirit is in the preaching of the gospel and sinners can hear and be saved. Simply ponder the amazing work of the Spirit in conviction of sin (John 16:8). When does this take place in Calvinism? If regeneration is first, when is conviction of sin? And how can dead sinners be convicted of sin if not first made alive? While I acknowledge depravity of sinners, I also believe that the preaching of the gospel is powerful enough to open sinners eyes to their sins. Most reject the gospel and continue in their sins but a few believe and repent and are saved.

So that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.– Galatians 3:14

The Calvinist view is that a person is dead in their sins (Ephesians 2:1-3) and therefore the Spirit must regenerate the dead sinner so that they can hear the gospel, believe, and be saved. Many appeal to the story of Lazarus in John 11 as an example of regeneration. Calvinists also appeal to John 3:3 saying that one must be born again to believe and enter the kingdom.

Here in Galatians 3:14 the Calvinist view has a problem. Paul the Apostle clearly states that we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The Spirit comes through faith. The Spirit does not come before faith. This is a problem text for Calvinists.

The Arminian understanding is that all who believe will be saved (John 3:15). Our view is that the Spirit works through the preaching of the gospel to bring forth faith but He can be resisted and He does not force the person to believe (a point that Calvinists would agree with in regard to force). John 6:44 is used by both Arminians and Calvinists concerning this work of the Spirit. The Spirit opens the heart of the sinner to hear the gospel and He enables those who believe to be saved. The work of regeneration is entirely His work (Titus 3:5-7). But the belief, while certainly a work of grace, is done by the believer themselves.

The Arminian order of salvation then would be that the Spirit is given to those who believe (Acts 11:17; 15:9). We are justified before God through faith (Romans 5:1) and at the moment of regeneration, we receive the promised Spirit (Romans 5:5). There is simply no way around this.

While Charles Spurgeon was no doubt a Calvinist, I do agree with him here:

“If I am to preach the faith in Christ to a man who is regenerated, then the man, being regenerated, is saved already, and it is an unnecessary and ridiculous thing for me to preach Christ to him, and bid him to believe in order to be saved when he is saved already, being regenerate. Am I only to preach faith to those who have it? Absurd, indeed! Is not this waiting till the man is cured and then bringing him the medicine? This is preaching Christ to the righteous and not to sinners.”

Spurgeon battled hyper-Calvinists in his day because Spurgeon rightly preached that all could and should come and be saved while he also believed in unconditional election. Spurgeon was inconsistent in his theology but for that I am thankful.

One final point. Calvinists acknowledge that the Spirit convicts people of their sins before salvation (John 16:8-11). Even if we grant that the Spirit only convicts those who are elect, how can He convict those who are dead? The Calvinists would have to preach that the Spirit regenerates before conviction instead of before faith. What is the point of the Spirit’s convicting work toward dead sinners if the dead sinner must be regenerated to believe the gospel?

The Arminian understanding of the convicting work is consistent with our teaching on prevenient (or enabling) grace. The Spirit convicts the sinner through the gospel (1 Timothy 1:8-11). The Spirit takes the law of God and He shows the sinner their sin (Romans 3:19-20; 7:7). The sinner must believe to be saved (Acts 16:30-31) but the Spirit woos the sinner under the guilt of their sin and He regenerates the sinner who believes the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:21; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

– Hebrews 12:2 (NASB)

One of the characteristics of cults is that they do not focus on Jesus Christ. They may mention Him and use His name but often the focus is not on Jesus but upon either a man or a group such as a church. Salvation is generally tied to Jesus (sometimes) but always somethings is added such as Jesus plus a church or Jesus plus a prophet or Jesus plus baptism into that church. The focus is not on Jesus alone.

The message of cults is not on Jesus either. It is usually on good works or keeping the commandments of the group (or church). That list can be short or long depending on the group. Most cults spend most of their time looking at themselves and what they do with just a casual glance at Jesus and what He has done.

Salvation, however, in the New Testament is focused on Jesus Christ and what He has done. Hebrews 12:2 is clear that the disciple is not to be focused on the group, the church, their works, their repentance, their lack of sinning, their discipler but upon the Lord Jesus. Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. Jesus is the One who sits at the right hand of God praying for the saints of God (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus is the One who died for our sins and brought us peace with God (Ephesians 2:14-15). Jesus is the only One who bore our sins on the cross (Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 2:24). Jesus has sat down at God’s right hand until His enemies be made His footstool (Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 1:3, 13).

Adam Clarke writes about Hebrews 12:2 and Jesus as our example:

Looking off and on, or from and to; looking off or from the world and all secular concerns to Jesus and all the spiritual and heavenly things connected with him. This is still an allusion to the Grecian games: those who ran were to keep their eyes fixed on the mark of the prize; they must keep the goal in view. The exhortation implies, 1. That they should place all their hope and confidence in Christ, as their sole helper in this race of faith. 2. That they should consider him their leader in this contest and imitate his example.

Jesus is our focus for the redeemed. Our focus is not on us. Our focus is not on our church. Our focus is not on our prayer life. Our focus is not on our evangelism. Our focus is not on what we have done but upon the Lord Jesus and what He has done. Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. He has finished this work (John 19:30). We cannot add to His work nor take away from His work. Salvation is accomplished through Jesus alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Good works do not save (Ephesians 2:8-9). A church or group does not save. Jesus alone saves by His grace and for His glory.

If your salvation is dependent upon what you do or what a group does for you, repent! Repent of your dead works (Hebrews 9:14). Repent of seeking to save yourself when you cannot (Isaiah 64:6). The only hope we have is Jesus. He alone is the One who is able to deliver us from our sins (Matthew 1:21) and He alone is the One who is able to give us peace with a holy God (Romans 5:1). Our faith must be in Him alone and not in us or our group.

If you are your group spends their time focusing on anything or anyone but Jesus Christ and His cross, I urge you repent or leave. Flee idolatry (1 John 5:21). Flee works salvation. Flee from focusing on anything or anyone but the only One who can save us from us and the wrath of an Almighty God (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

The first point of the five points from FACTS is “freed by God’s grace.” This has to do with the doctrine of prevenient grace by which the sinner is able to believe the gospel and to be saved and yet the Spirit frees the sinner so that the decision by the sinner is the free will choice of the sinner.

Arminians believe, as Calvinists do, that the sinner is bound in their sins. We agree with our Calvinist brethren that sinners are dead in their sins (Ephesians 2:1) and that apart from the grace of God, none could be saved (John 6:44). Romans 3:10-18 establishes point by point the nature of our depravity. There is nothing in us that is not effected by our sinfulness. Our minds, our hearts, our will, our speech – all this is bound in our sins. We are depraved. We are sinful.

A better term than “total depravity” would be “total inability.” The sinner is totally unable to come to salvation apart from the intervention of God. We do not love God. We don’t want to serve God. We don’t even see our need for salvation apart from the grace of God opening our eyes to our sinfulness. The entire work of salvation is a work of grace. Regeneration in both Arminianism and Calvinism is a work of God, a monergistic work by God alone (John 3:3; Titus 3:5).

Arminius affirmed total inability. He wrote:

In this state, the free will of man towards the true good is not only wounded, maimed, infirm, bent, and weakened; but it is also imprisoned, destroyed, and lost. And its powers are not only debilitated and useless unless they be assisted by grace, but it has no powers whatever except such as are excited by Divine grace. For Christ has said, “Without me ye can do nothing.” St. Augustine, after having diligently meditated upon each word in this passage, speaks thus: “Christ does not say, without me ye can do but Little; neither does He say, without me ye can do any Arduous Thing, nor without me ye can do it with difficulty. But he says, without me ye can do Nothing! Nor does he say, without me ye cannot complete any thing; but without me ye can do Nothing.” That this may be made more manifestly to appear, we will separately consider the mind, the affections or will, and the capability, as contra-distinguished from them, as well as the life itself of an unregenerate man.

However, despite agreeing that we are dead in our sins, that our wills are held captive by sin and only the grace of God can set the sinner free, Arminius went on to write that God’s grace enables the sinner to believe. He wrote:

“What then, you ask, does free will do? I reply with brevity, it saves. Take away FREE WILL, and nothing will be left to be saved. Take away GRACE, and nothing will be left as the source of salvation. This work [of salvation] cannot be effected without two parties — one, from whom it may come: the other, to whom or in whom it may be wrought. God is the author of salvation. Free will is only capable of being saved. No one, except God, is able to bestow salvation; and nothing, except free will, is capable of receiving it.”

Certainly the Arminian position is that salvation is all of grace (Acts 15:11; Ephesians 2:8-9). Romans 11:6 is clear that salvation is not by works but by grace! Good works cannot obtain salvation because they are often tainted by our sinfulness (Isaiah 64:6). If good works could save, how many good works must one do to be saved? If God requires perfection to be in His presence, who can boast that they are ever perfect save the Son of God? Scripture is clear that we are sinners (Romans 3:23) but Scripture is also clear that Jesus alone is perfect (Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5). 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that Christ shed His blood for us, for our sins, and He bore our sins on the cross. Jesus was the sinless sacrifice for our sins. He was the absolutely perfect sacrifice that secures our eternal salvation!

Yet God does not force people to believe. Because of our sinfulness, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to our need for salvation through the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). The Spirit brings conviction of sin (John 16:8) and He exposes our wicked hearts to the gospel truth that Jesus shed His blood for our sins (John 3:16). The Spirit thus does His work of grace in us so that the freed will of the sinner can believe and be saved.

Arminius wrote about the work of the Spirit in bringing repentance:

Because, after the gate of grace has by the just judgment of God been closed on account of a malicious continuance in sins, no passage is open for the Spirit, who is necessarily the author of repentance. Therefore let these words always resound in our ears, “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Heb. iii, 7, 8; Psalm xcv, 7, 8.) And this exhortation of the Apostle, “Workout your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure,” (Phil. ii, 12, 13.) May this be graciously granted to us by God the Father of mercies, in the Son of his love, by the Holy Spirit of both of them. To whom be praise and glory forever. Amen.

Arminius affirmed that the work of salvation is the work of God’s grace through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Arminius wrote about this saving grace:

In reference to Divine Grace, I believe, 1. It is a gratuitous affection by which God is kindly affected towards a miserable sinner, and according to which he, in the first place, gives his Son, “that whosoever believers in him might have eternal life,” and, afterwards, he justifies him in Christ Jesus and for his sake, and adopts him into the right of sons, unto salvation. 2. It is an infusion (both into the human understanding and into the will and affections,) of all those gifts of the Holy Spirit which appertain to the regeneration and renewing of man — such as faith, hope, charity, &c.; for, without these gracious gifts, man is not sufficient to think, will, or do any thing that is good. 3. It is that perpetual assistance and continued aid of the Holy Spirit, according to which He acts upon and excites to good the man who has been already renewed, by infusing into him salutary cogitations, and by inspiring him with good desires, that he may thus actually will whatever is good; and according to which God may then will and work together with man, that man may perform whatever he wills.

The Arminian position then is that we are saved by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, by the work of Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. This gospel comes through the preaching of the inerrant, infallible Word of God. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16-17) and sinners need to hear the gospel to be saved (Romans 10:14-17). The name of Jesus alone saves (Acts 4:12) and He alone is the meditator before God for sinners (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Sinners are commanded to repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15-16; Acts 2:38; 3:19-20; 17:30-31). This salvation is the work of God from beginning to end.

We sin because we want to sin. Satan does not make us sin. God does not make us sin. We sin because we want to sin. James 1:12-15 is clear on this:

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Notice verse 14. We are enticed by our own desires. Our desires of the flesh want to rebel against God and His Word (1 John 3:4). Our flesh wants to be Romans 1:18-32. Our flesh wants to ignore the commands of the Lord and live for ourselves. We deceive ourselves and think that our obeying our flesh will produce joy and happiness and contentment but it only produces death (Romans 6:23).

In our day it is common to want our sins to be legalized. Whether it be sexual sins or drugs, we believe that if the government will just make it legal in the eyes of the law of men then this will sooth our guilty conscience and we will have peace in our sins. This will never be! God has given us a conscience to warn us that we are in rebellion against Him. Every person on the face of the earth has a conscience from God and every single person, apart from the grace of God, knows that we have violated His just laws and have rebelled against Him just as Adam and Eve did in Genesis 3. We know that we are guilty before a holy God and we know that we are doing things worthy of death but we believe that we should have a “right” to our sins and no one should tell us that we are sinning (not even God Himself). This will not bring peace.

Peace will only come when we repent. Romans 5:1 assures us of this peace through Jesus Christ. Jesus died to take away our sins (1 Peter 3:18). He shed His own blood in our place (Isaiah 53:5-6) and through His blood alone can we find peace with God (Matthew 26:28; Ephesians 2:8-9). His blood alone is able to wash away all our sins (Isaiah 1:16; Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:7). We must repent before a holy God which is turning away from sin toward God (Matthew 3:8; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30-31; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:10). Repentance is the will of God (2 Peter 3:9). Turning from sin is the will of God (1 Thessalonians 4:3; 5:23-24; 1 John 2:1-2). By His grace alone are we able to turn away from our sins (Titus 2:11-12). Our flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:7) but by the power of the Holy Spirit we can turn away from sin and repent (John 16:8-11).

1. The proximate subject of regeneration, which is effected in the present life by the Spirit of Christ, is the mind and the affections of man, or the will considered according to the mode of nature, not the will considered according to the mode of liberty. It is not the body of man, though man, when renewed by regeneration through his mind and feelings, actually wills in a good manner, and performs well through the instruments of the body.

2. Though regeneration is not perfected in a moment, but by certain steps and intervals; yet, as soon as ever it is perfected according to its essence, that is, through the renovation of the mind and affections, it renders the man spiritual, and capable of resisting sin through the assisting grace of God. Hence, also, from the Spirit, which predominates in him, he is called spiritual and not carnal, though he still has within him the flesh lusting against the Spirit. For these two, a carnal man and a spiritual man, are so denominated in opposition, and according to [that which is in each of them] the more powerful, prevailing or predominant party.

3. The regenerate are able to perform more true good, and of such as is pleasing to God, than they actually perform, and to omit more evil than they omit; and, therefore, if they do not perform and omit what they ought to do, that must not be ascribed to any decree of God or inefficacy of divine grace, but it must be attributed to the negligence of the regenerate themselves.

4. He who asserts that “it is possible for the regenerate, through the grace of Christ, perfectly to fulfill the law in the present life,” is neither a Pelagian, nor inflicts any injury on the grace of God, nor establishes justification through works.

5. The regenerate are capable of committing sin designedly and in opposition to their consciences, and of so laying waste their consciences, through sin, as to hear nothing from them except the sentence of condemnation.

6. The regenerate are capable of grieving the Holy Spirit by their sins, so that, for a season, until they suffer themselves to be brought back to repentance, he does not exert his power and efficacy in them.

7. Some of the regenerate actually thus sin, thus lay waste their conscience, and thus grieve the Holy Spirit.

8. If David had died in the very moment in which he had sinned against Uriah by adultery and murder, he would have been condemned to death eternal.

9. God truly hates the sins of the regenerate and of the elect of God, and indeed so much the more, as those who thus sin have received more benefits from God, and a greater power of resisting sin.

10. There are distinctions by which a man is said to sin with a full will, or with a will that is not full — fully to destroy conscience, or not fully but only partly, and to sin according to his unregenerate part. When these distinctions are employed in the sense in which some persons use them, they are noxious to piety and injurious to good morals.